The Neglected Ocean

Someone just pointed out to me that Perth, Western Australia, is an Indian Ocean seaport. Heck, so is Adelaide, capital of South Australia. In fact the Indian Ocean stretches from 20°E to 146°55'E, which makes its westernmost port probably Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

Most of human trade and civilisation over the span of our history has traversed this neglected ocean. Egypt's only ocean access is to the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian peninsula is almost entirely surrounded by it. Few know how large the Chinese presence here used to be, still is, and continues to be. There perhaps more than 50,000 Chinese (mostly Cantonese) on Madagascar, and another 35,000 on Mauritius. Singapore is an Indian Ocean city.

This is why geography is both romantic and important. These are the huge stories hidden in plain sight. Or plain sites.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 12)

Just yesterday I was mulling over Dale Johnson's article on how each team might yet qualify for the next round of the World Cup. What caught my eye was the suggestion that South Africa might yet qualify if the unlikely happened — say if they beat France 3-0 and either Uruguay or Mexico won in their match together.

Half an hour after these matches started, France is trailing 1-0 and have had a man (Gourcuff) sent off for violent elbow use. How interesting...

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37 minutes and a few more South African attempts later, Mphela has scored to make it 2-0 and they've also had an attempt denied for being offside. You can sense the electricity in Bloemfontein. It is almost as if every one of the lighting towers is a Tesla cannon.

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Uruguay (population about 3m) is leading Mexico 1-0 now. The plot thickens...

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...and then thins, as first South Africa concede a goal and then Mexico holds Uruguay to 1-0. A good outing though, from South Africa. The dream almost became reality. Mexico go through, probably to face Argentina. Uruguay will face the runners-up from Group B. We'll know more in a few hours' time.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 06a)

It was not the first time the Swiss have kept their enemies at bay and triumphed through force of arms. Most people forget that the Swiss dominated Europe in the Middle Ages, fielding the largest and most technically trained army. For about 500 years now, Swiss mercenaries have been in high demand as specialists and valuable commodities.

And last evening, they scrambled one past the Spaniards and held on for an historic 1-0 victory in South Africa. Perhaps the CH on their car plates ('Confoederatio Helvetica') will some day also stand for 'Championship Holders'. A Swiss dream, perhaps? Who knows, in this odd iteration of the World Cup.

Later, Uruguay walloped the hosts 3-0 after South Africa had goalkeeper Khune sent off (I think it was harsh; a striker tripped over his stationary boot). Yes, it was mostly about Diego Forlan, as expected. Uruguay would have looked dangerous but not lethal without him.

At least some things are getting interesting.

Whose World? What Cup? (Day 06)

Tonight's entertainment starred Chile and Honduras. Most people would bill this as a clash between two South American sides, if you had to choose continents. I think of the Republic of Honduras (formerly Spanish Honduras) as a North American country, however. This is because anything north of the Panama Canal (and including Panama itself) should be considered 'North America' — after all, that's where they cut through the narrow umbilical that connects the huge mass of South America to its northern counterpart.

The capital of Honduras (which means 'depths' in Spanish) has that lovely name Tegucigalpa, which sounds Mayan to me, and which I've always thought was pronounced 'de Gucci gal pa'. But who knows what the Spanish have done with that?

Meanwhile, the capital of Chile is Santiago, which is Spanish for 'St James'. It's also the battle-cry of the Reconquista, in full, "Santiago y cierra España!" — "St James and strike for Spain!" Yes, St James, one of the legendary sons of Thunder, is indeed the patron saint of Spain.

Scoreline: 1-0, "Santiago!" Yet another entertainment-with-low-score episode. I hope Spain, playing in 15 minutes' time, is a lot better.

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Haha. The disciples of Zwingli beat the hidalgos 1-0 after a terrible goalmouth scramble. Spain were interesting but not good. All the possession, but not self-possession enough to either stop the Swiss machine on its rare attacks or break their defence, which was traditionally resolute. Oh well. "Santiago!" It will be silly but normal if we don't see Spain in the grand final.

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And on a third Hispanophile note, Uruguay 1-0 so far against South Africa? Two endlessly-running sides separated by one Forlan's distant strike of beauty. Ah, the beautiful game...